Telecom department puts Aadhaar-based face authentication on hold

New Delhi: The telecom department has put Aadhaar-based face authentication on hold pending the Supreme Court judgement on petitions challenging issuance of new mobile connections and re-verification through the use of the unique identity.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) in a letter dated September 19, 2018, to the UIDAI CEO said that the judgement on petition filed in the apex court challenging Aadhaar based e-KYC process is expected to be delivered this month and it may require re-look on the the whole e-KYC process for issuance of new mobile connections.

"... it has been decided by the department that the instructions for implementation of face authentication in Aadhaar based e-KYC (know your customer) process including amendments in consumer application form/database formats may be issued by DoT to TSPs after procurement of final judgement on Aadhaar by Hon'ble Supreme Court after comprehensive re-look on the whole Aadhaar based e-KYC process," the letter said.

The Unique Identity Authority of India (UIDAI) in August had directed all telecom service providers (TSPs) to implement double factor authentication in their system using matching of face of the subscriber as captured in Aadhaar from September 15, 2018 onward.

The Aadhaar custodian had directed that at least 10 per cent of their total monthly verification transaction should be done using face authentication.